It’s been 30 years since the release of Clueless, and I was invited to watch the film in London’s West End in advance of its re-release into cinemas and on Ultra HD Blu-Ray.
It’s been over a decade since I last joined Cher and friends at Beverly High, and by coincidence I watched an adaptation on stage of Emma by Jane Austen a couple of days ago. And Clueless is a parody of that book, given a 1990s high school spin.
Clueless on screen
Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, and Brittany Murphy play the equivalents of Emma (Cher), Mr Knightley (Josh), and Harriet (Tai). Cher is a snob, a busybody, and a brat who lives for fashion and interfering in the lives of others. But as the film title suggests, she turns out to be Clueless about what’s going on around her.
Making Elton into a trust-fund monster and Christian into a Spartacus obsessed fashionista adds a lot of fun to proceedings, while two teachers stand for the first successful match of Austen’s Miss Taylor, governess, and Mr Weston.
Clueless is silly, but very, very funny. I was laughing through most of the film and caught a lot of dialogue and bits of action I missed the first time round.
This film has now been made into the stage musical, which I was also invited to watch last night. An intriguing development of this film completely revamped from the Off-Broadway jukebox musical.
Clueless on stage
The musical, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, benefits greatly from KT Tunstall and Glenn Slater’s memorable songs that fit in with the plot. You’ll be tapping your feet to “New Girl,” “She’s All That,” “Human Barbies,” and “Whatever.”
A few tweaks have been made to the plot (writer – Amy Heckerling) and cultural references – Christian’s big secret is revealed in a different way, and ‘Luke Perry’ becomes ‘Keanu Reeves’.
The costumes are by Paloma Young, and creatively pay homage to the film’s iconic look. I loved the nostalgic choreography (Lizzi Gee) and set (Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams) that screamed the excess of Beverly Hills.
Performances were particularly good, with Emma Flynn offering a grating yet likeable Cher and Romona Lewis-Malley capturing the metamorphosis of the awkward Tai from the Bronx into a mean girl.
Isaac J Lewis and Max Mirza run with the caricatures of Christian and Elton, the former displaying great energy in a party scene. Ryan O’Donnell shines in several roles, including Cher’s workaholic dad and her shy-in-love teacher.
My one reservation was the sound design (Rob Bettle and Sam Clarkson) that let lyrics get a little lost in group numbers. Otherwise, the lighting (Ben Cracknell) is bright colours and shocking pink a lot of the time. Very 90s.
I also enjoyed the high-school book design of the programme and the look of some of the merchandise (pins, bag, clothing). Does all this have anything new to say?
No, but Clueless is a warm and fuzzy hug of a show, offering the sugar high of the year.
Four stars for both!
Clueless (1995) is re-released into cinemas on 27 Jun and is on Ultra HD Blu Ray later this summer. It is also available on streaming service Paramount +.
Clueless: A New Musical is at the Trafalgar Theatre. More details here: https://cluelessonstage.com/